Seven Days
by Kohana Kurama
Summary: Harima picks up a book entitled "Seven Days to Fall In Love For Dummies" and decides to give it a try. Unfortunately, Akira gives the same book to Tenma with the intention of helping her woo Karasuma. Rated for Harima's dirty mouth.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Harima eyed the book curiously. "Seven Days To Fall In Love For Dummies, hm?" He looked around to see if anyone was looking at him then snatched the book up, running to the back of the store with it. It had caught his attention from its display through the store's window. He read the title again then flipped the book open, skipping the acknowledgments and dedications, to the prologue. "You begin the hunt for your future girlfriend. Let's call her "subject". First, check your budget. Multiply it by the standard hotness to money ratio, to get the range of hotness in which your subject should fall. Then based on your hotness range, you start hunting for your subject. In confusion, toss a coin. Remember your subject's friend always appears hotter, so don't get fooled. Choose wisely."

Harima attempted to do the math in his head then realized he didn't have the faintest idea as to what the standard hotness was and had never heard of a "money ratio". Word math. He hated it. The book itself sounded promising, but he would need help translating it into Harima Speak. He would have to get Itoko, his teaching cousin, to help him out.

He raced up to the cashier to pay for the book. Ahead of him in line, an old lady with more than twenty books she'd fished out of the clearance bin was trying to pay for her items. First she wanted to pay with cash, slowly counting out each penny she pulled from her coin purse before realizing she was seven cents short. Harima sighed and looked around, hoping that maybe they had another cash register around somewhere. He really didn't want to get caught shopping a book store of all places. His classmates would question him relentlessly. Or worse, Tenma would--

The bell over the door rang and the chatter of a group of girls was heard. Harima froze instantly, turning his head robotically to see whom it was. Of course, as only his luck would allow, Tenma and her friends walked through the door, chirping excitedly about a book they'd seen through the store window about falling in love in seven days. Harima looked down at his book then quickly back up, tears of despair streaming from his face as he gritted his teeth hard to keep from being heard. _'Shit! If any of them see me buying this book, they'll automatically think I'm trying to get a girlfriend! Then Tenma will think I'm chasing after some other girl and not her! What do I do?! What do I do?!'_

"Hey, Kenji!"

He nearly shitted a brick at the sound of her voice. He turned around and tried his hardest to act completely calm, as if the book he was buying _wasn't_ to help him possible steal her heart and make her fall madly in love with him. "Hey, Tenma!" He returned the wave.

Finally, the old lady grabbed her massive stack of books and staggered out the door to her car. Harima wanted to smack her silly. If she hadn't had so many books, he would have been able to at least run into the girls on his way out with the book in a freaking bag! Now he'd have to come up with a good lie as to why he was buying it.

"What book is that?" Tenma leaned forward to catch the title of the book. "Seven Days To Fall In Love For Dummies?" She looked at him with a confused yet interested look.

"Y-yeah." Was the most he could choke out at the time. _'Look at her...so innocent...so gosh darn beautiful...Oh Tenma! If only I could tell you that I loved you! Then I wouldn't have to buy a damned book to tell me how!'_

"That'll be $23.47, sir." The associate looked at him with a wide smile, as if over-charging customers for the thin book wasn't a crime. Best-seller or not, the book only seemed to have twelve pages in it. Harima fished for his wallet and Tenma snatched the book off of the counter to look at it.

"Hm..."

"It's a really good book!" The associate chirped.

"Really?" Tenma looked at her.

The girl nodded. "It's a great read. I've personally bought it and read it. It's very romantic."

Tenma pondered her chances. Maybe, just maybe, she could use the book to get Karasuma to fall in love with her. She was willing to try anything. "I'll go get one too!"

Harima had trouble keeping a straight face and the scream from leaving his throat. _'Typical.'_ "Here's your change sir." He took the money and the receipt and shoved them into his pocket. He thanked her then took the book from Tenma and gave it to the associate to bag.

Tenma snatched the book off of the shelf and read the prologue. "Standard hotness? Money ratio?"

"Hm. Sounds...weird." Mikoto leaned over her shoulder and looked at the words on the page.

"Sounds stupid. Only an idiot would by this book." Eri frowned at the thought of using a book of all things to get a boyfriend.

Harima froze at the door as if he'd just been shot then ran out the door. The girls watched him go then looked back down at the book. "I think it's worth at least reading." Akira turned the page. "Hm."

"Well, consider me an idiot!" Tenma snapped the book shut and tucked it under her arm. "I'm gonna use it to make Karasuma fall in love with me!"

"Tenma," Akira touched her arm, "Do you even have the money to afford that book?"

Tenma's face fell in utter defeat. "No...I just spent a lot of money last week on a _Three For The Kill_ cosplay outfit to watch the season premiere..."

"I'll buy it for you." Akira fished out forty dollars and handed it to Tenma. Tenma's eyes lit up with chibi joy.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Tenma attempted to hug Akira, but Akira held out her arm and kept Tenma at arm's length with her hand firmly on Tenma's forehead.

"No thanks is necessary."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I actually stumbled upon this article online and thought it would be cute for Harima and Tenma to try to put it to good use. Technically they're both dummies so... *shrugs* what harm would it do? Credit goes to the author of the list otherwise the manipulation of these characters is totally my doing. :D


	2. Monday: Rose Day

**Monday: Rose Day**

Harima stared at the book on his bed in front of with doubt. Knowing that Tenma had a copy of her own, it was useless to try to use it on her. She'd automatically realize that he was using the book on her. It wouldn't work.

"What are you talking about, Kenji!" He shouted to himself in some pitiful attempt at a self-pep talk. "If you did it as anonymously as possible, she wouldn't have to know it was you until the very end." The idea became appealing. "Yeah...I could be her secret admirer. Then reveal myself and my love at the very end with a tender kiss upon her rose petal soft lips!"

"You need serious help." Itoko stood in his bedroom doorway with her arms crossed, slightly peeved to have been pulled away from her mirror. "School starts in an hour, Harima. What are you doing and what do I have to do with it?" He held up the book for her to see. She immediately rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. "No."

"Please, Itoko, wait!" Harima held a hand out for her, chibi tears streaming down his face. "I need help understanding what it's saying!"

She paused and looked at him over her shoulder. "What's in it for me?"

"Huh?" Harima thought about it. "You can call in the favor whenever you need one?"

Itoko contemplated the possibilities then nodded. "Fair enough. Let me see." She picked up the book and read the prologue then continued on to the first chapter. "Maybe when God was distributing fragrance to each of his creations, rose stole our share. That's why it smells so good, and we so bad. (Now if you don't believe me, just put your nose into your armpits.) And that's why we boys send or give it to the girls as a messenger sent to the king of an enemy territory. If the king is short-tempered, hard luck for the rose but it's good luck for you. In either case, the rose is dead, either trampled under the feet of the lady or dehydrated in her hands or hairs.

"So the rule of this day is you have to give a rose to your subject. The more the better. Bonus points if you could afford a little adventure for that bunch of roses, and extra bonus if you could afford a cut from the thorns." She looked at him, then the book, then back at him. "Where the hell did you get this?"

"At the bookstore down the street." He blinked.

She sighed and threw it back to him, hitting him in the chest and knocking the air out of him. "Give her some roses." She turned to leave.

"That's all you have to say? What about the standard hotness and money ratio?"

"Harima. You think she's hot. You've got the money to spend. Go for it and leave me alone."

Harima hid on the other side of the fence around the Tsukamoto residence, peeping around it to see the front door. Any moment now Tenma would leave for school, finding the vase full of roses sitting there. It was a chore to find a floral shop open this early in the morning. The one he did manage to find made him remove the thorns on his own thus resulting in band-aid covered fingers. "Come on, Tenma."

The door opened.

"Come on..."

A figure appeared in the doorway, apparently staring at the beautiful arrangement at her feet.

"That's it..."

Yakumo picked up the vase with care, amazed. She sniffed the roses and closed her eyes. Very few girls can resist the scent of a fresh cut rose. Harima's eyes were huge with shock. As if on instinct, Yakumo's eyes landed on Harima. The minute he discovered he'd been seen, he took off running.

"That's odd." Yakumo said, turning and taking the flowers inside. She thought about it and put the flowers on the living room table. "Why would Harima leave me flowers?"

Meanwhile, Tenma was staking out Karasuma's locker, where she had taped a single white rose to the door, fingers covered in band-aids. _'Man this is great! He can't miss it.'_

Karasuma paused at his locker, staring at the white rose. After what seemed like hours (which had in fact been the entire school day), Karasuma finally moved, taking the flower down with care. "I cannot imagine who left this here. Only guys would leave flowers...However, I am not into men. I feel sorry for the poor soul."

With that he carefully dropped the rose into the nearest trash can and went home leaving Tenma a crying mess on the floor.


	3. Tuesday: Propose Day

**Tuesday: Propose Day**

Harima decided that since the flowers did make it into the house, the first day had been a semi-success. He would simply have to explain to Tenma that the flowers her sister intercepted were meant for her and not Yakumo. An easy fix to a simple mistake. He looked at the book's chapter for the day. "If you're reading this, then I assume yesterday worked well and you are not in any hospital. So today is propose day. This officially gives your subject the right on your wallet. Preparations for this day includes a decent dress, lots of perfume (thanks to the rose scandal at the beginning of the world), some love quotes memorized by heart, and an infinite number of other things based on your innovation and your budget. Bonus points if you make your own love song and extra bonus if you buy some souvenirs that she likes (there's high probability of this extra bonus as your subject usually likes anything for free.)"

Confusing as all hell. "Am I supposed to propose a relationship to her after just one arrangement of flowers?" Harima scratched his head and re-read the chapter. No significant difference in understanding. He decided he would just wing it.

"Today, students, we're going to read aloud your writing assignments. You had to write something in English and be able to read it to the class. Hopefully you practiced your pronunciation." The teacher stood at her podium. She went through her shuffled stack of papers and called out each student's name, prompting them to stand next to her and read aloud to the class.

"Tsukamoto Tenma." Tenma was so nervous she had to make a conscious effort to keep her chattering teeth from being heard.

"I-I decided to write a song in English." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She attempted to clear her throat then began to sing. "Whenever I see you...it seems my world just stops...whenever I'm near you...I feel like I'm gonna drop--"

_Will Oji Karasuma please report to the principal's office? Will Oji Karasuma please report to the principal's office?_

Awkward silence followed. Tenma swallowed hard as Karasuma stood and calmly retreated from the room. She fought tears. Her second day was a failure as well. Without finishing her song, she took her seat and slammed her head down on the desk, face turned towards the window so no one would see her tears.

Harima attempted to console Tenma but he was called next. "I wrote a poem entitled 'Angel Divine'." Harima cleared his throat and spoke loudly:

Though star-blazed skies my mind contained,  
The solitude of night my heart concealed,  
Love's emotions were so fully restrained,  
Thus did I hide behind a self-made shield.

And then you entered into my life,  
Bewildering feelings, dazed and confused,  
But you continued deeper like a knife,  
Until my hardness was thus subdued.

What I never thought possible for me,  
You've done and that I'll always treasure,  
My heart burns fervent with love for thee,  
Our souls delight in each beyond all measure.

And as you now place your sweet lips on mine,  
I know for certain I'm enraptured with an angel divine.

The class clapped, amazed that something so sincere and...emotional came from the school's bad ass. Superbly proud of himself, he took his seat and turned to Tenma. "Hey, Tenma? What did you think--"

_Snore._ She was sound asleep.

"Yakumo said she'd stayed up nearly all night working on that poem for class." Mikoto whispered to Eri and Akira who nodded sadly.

Harima put his head down and didn't lift it until it was time to go home.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I was too lazy to make up a poem for Harima to read aloud. Sue me. I have the link to the poem if you want it. They have some pretty poems there so check it out when you have time.


	4. Wednesday: Chocolate Day

**Wednesday: Chocolate Day**

"Tenma, you can't just give up." Eri looked down at the brunette who had buried herself in her bed, refusing to even go to school.

"Yeah, this isn't like you." Mikoto picked up the book and found the chapter for the day.  
"Today's an easy one." She nudged Tenma before reading aloud. "I am sure the creators of today were heavily bribed by the companies like Cadbury and Nestle for today is the chocolate day. Now it's your chance, or if you want to call it privilege, to bribe your subject. There's only one rule for this day, 'BADA AND BRANDED HAI TO BEHTAR HAI.' (Big is better.) So the choice is yours, but consult your finances before investing."

"Hey!" Eri shook Tenma. "You've started eating lunch with Karasuma. All you have to do is have a nice box of chocolates on hand to share with him afterwards."

Tenma suddenly sat up, scaring Eri and Mikoto. "You're right!" She pushed off the covers, revealing that she was completely dressed and ready for school including her shoes, and jumped out of her bed. "I need to go buy a box of chocolates to include in our bento lunches!"

Karasuma seemed to love chocolate. Not more than curry but enough to leave a talkative Tenma a mere two pieces. "I'm glad you like the chocolate!" Tenma giggled handing him a napkin to get a chocolate smear on his lip. Karasuma looked at her, puzzled. "You have a bit of chocolate on your lip."

"Could you get it for me?" He asked.

Tenma nearly turned to stone. Her arm moved on its own, gently wiping the stain away with a gentle caress.

"Thank you, Miss Tsukamoto. For lunch and dessert."

Tenma melted and turned red, nodding. "You're welcome, Karasuma."

It was a stroke of luck that Harima found Tenma walking alone after school that evening. "Hey, Tenma!"

"Huh?" Tenma turned around, spotted Harima, and waited for him to catch up. "Hi."

Harima fought to calm the butterflies in his stomach. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"

Tenma smiled brightly, having had an absolute wonderful day, and nodded. "Of course you can!"

_'Oh, Tenma! My beautiful angel!'_ Harima cleared his throat and fell into step beside her. Occasionally their hands would brush, nearly sending Harima's heart into arrhythmia each time. They had turned onto her street when he finally remembered the chocolate. "Oh! Hey, I had a box of chocolate candies. I was wondering if you wanted some? Maybe the whole box?" _'God, that was lame.'_

Tenma smiled up at him and put both hands on the box, attempting to take it from him. "Thank you for the offer, Harima! I shared some with someone else earlier and he didn't leave much for me. I can snack on these while doing my homework tonight."

Harima was the equivalent to a stone pillar, unable to force his hands to let go of the box. "O...kay."

Tenma tugged a little harder until the box was freed, slightly crushed from Harima's grip. "Thanks again. See you tomorrow at school, okay?"

Tenma went inside her house and shut the door.

It was hours before Itoko came along. "You are such a moron." She muttered, picking Harima up like as if he were nothing more than a sign and tying him to the back of her motorcycle as such.


	5. Thursday: Teddy Day

**Thursday: Teddy Day**

"The problem with the chocolates is that by the time you are reading this step, its traces wont even remain in your subject's body. There should be something tangible. Something she could show her friends and let them know how hot she is. So the Teddy Day got invented. The rule for this day is, 'CUTER AND MEHENGA HAI TO BEHTAR HAI.' And yes, don't forget to not remove the price tag before giving her." Tenma read aloud to Yakumo. "I can't give him a teddy bear!"

"Well, sis, you could try giving him something else."

"Like what?" Tenma looked at her.

"Something a guy would like."

"Like what?"

At this Yakumo shrugged.

It was simple. It was cute. It was Tenma. Harima snatched the green plush turtle off of the shelf and ran to the cashier. He knew she had a turtle. She would like a plushie one. He knew somehow deep down, she'd like the plushie.

Harima stood nervously in front of Tenma with his green gift bag, yellow and green paper sticking out of the top in a colorful display. "Hey, uh, Tenma."

Tenma looked at him skeptically. She had to admit that Harima usually acted weird. This was a bit more than the usual. "Hi Harima."

He rubbed his head and fidgeted about nervously as he tried to get the words to come out. Unable to be articulate, Harima shoved the bag at the bewildered girl and took off running down the hall screaming at the top of his lungs. "THIS IS FOR YOU, TENMA!!!"

Blink. Blink. "Thank you, Harima!" She yelled after him and looked in the bag. Her eyes doubled in size and she pulled the plushie out of the bag. "Wow! Thank you, Harima!" She hugged it to her chest then stuffed it back into the bag. Thanks to him, she now had the perfect gift to give to Karasuma.

"You can't give Karasuma a re-gift!" Eri protested. "That's just wrong."

Akira only stared at the girl.

"Tenma how would you feel if Karasuma gave you something someone had given him as a gift?" Mikoto asked.

"If it came from Karasuma, I'd have it sewn to my body so I'd never lose it." Tenma swooned from the thought. Her friends promptly gave up on that argument.

Tenma caught Karasuma after school in front of the school building. Wordlessly, she held out the bag for him and he took it. She stood there while he fished through the bag and pulled out the green plushie turtle. "Interesting. Thank you, Miss Tsukamoto. I have been looking for something to add to my turtle collection. This will do nicely."

She turned beet red with embarrassment and nodded. "Y-your welcome!"

"Would you like to walk home together?" Karasuma turned in the direction and took a step, causing Tenma to immediately follow along at his side.

Harima was livid. "That sonnofabitch! He took my gift from her!"

"Kenji!" A deep voice bellowed and a heavy hand landed hard on his shoulder, turning him around. "You owe me a fight!"

"Tennouji, I'm _really_ not in the mood--"

"WELL GET IN THE MOOD!" Tennouji yelled, sucker punching Harima in the jaw. Once Harima regained his balance, he picked up his damaged sunglasses from the ground and inspected them. "How's that?"

Harima made a noise of disgust and threw the sunglasses back on the ground. "Well if you wanted a fight, you're damn sure about to get one."


	6. Friday: Promise Day

**Friday: Promise Day**

"Okay, so far you've failed miserably at everything you've tried to do that the book told you to do." Itoko held up the camcorder and aimed it at Harima, who was lying face down on his bedroom floor. "What are you going to do now?"

"Give up." Harima announced in a muffled voice.

She lowered the camera. "Oh, come on, Kenji. You can't just give up now. This will make a nice documentary for me to show to my class. They need to know you can't just pick up a book and instantly have someone fall in love with you."

"Go. To. Hell."

She picked up the book, making sure to get it on camera briefly before reading it aloud. "Today is the false promise day, not a good word for marketing so just strip it to promise day. Today is the day when you get to vomit out all those filmy dialogues into the ears of your subject. It's a rapid fire round. The more dialogues in the given time, the more bonus you get. Time is precious; use it wisely. And remember, promises are free, you don't have to consult your finances." She looked at him. "Ooh, something that won't cost you! Well...on second thought, I'm sure it may cost you your pride, self-respect, dignity, sanity--"

"Thank you, Itoko." Harima sat up and began to shoo her out of his room. "Go away. I need to think."

"There we go!" She aimed the camera at him as she backed out of the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have our hopeless romantic back!"

Harima cornered Tenma on the way to class, wanting to get the words he'd memorized out before he lost his nerve. "Tenma! I have something I want to say to you."

"Yes?" Tenma answered innocently, afraid that he'd heard about her re-gifting his gift to her.

He made a pained face and puffed out his chest, determined to do it. "Tenma...Love is like swallowing hot chocolate before it has cooled off. It takes you by surprise at first, but keeps you warm for a long time."

"What?" Tenma tilted her head to the side, perplexed.

Harima took her hands and held them up to his chest, leaning down to look her in the eyes...leaving her to stare at her reflection. "Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it."

"Harima, I don't--"

"Love is blind but after experiencing it for a long time you should become familiar with some particular spots."

"Huh?"

"Love is like a piece of art work, even the smallest bit can be so beautiful."

Blink. Blink.

"Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness."

Blink. Blink.

"You can't put a price tag on love, but you can on all its accessories."

"Are we going to buy something?"

Harima let his head hang in defeat. _'I don't know who's the stupidest: her for not understanding a word I'm saying or me for even attempting to do this knowing how thick she can be. Me. Definitely me.'_

"Karasuma?"

"Yes, Miss Tsukamoto?" Karasuma paused before taking a bite out of the curry that sat in front of him and looked at her.

"Um..." She took a deep breath. "A mighty pain to love it is, and 'tis a pain that pain to miss; but of all the pains, the greatest pain is to love, but love in vain."

"Abraham Crowley." He replied.

Tenma's face scrunched up in confusion. "A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."

"Ingrid Bergman."

"Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies?"

"John Donne."

"True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen."

"La Rochefoucauld."

"Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all."

"St. Augustine."

It became quite clear to Tenma that she misunderstood the book as some of the quotes didn't seem romantic at all not, not to mention and Karasuma seemed to enjoy identifying the quotes instead of even asking why she was reciting them. The school bell rang and Karasuma began to pack away their things.

"Thank you, Miss Tsukamoto, for lunch and for the little game we played."

Tenma sighed. Failure.


	7. Saturday: Hug Day

**Saturday: Hug Day**

"Well, this chapter is interesting." Akira read over the short, simple, and sweet chapter.

"What does it say?" Eri asked, looking up from her math homework.

"So, finally, your investments have started reaping. But don't be impatient; today is just a Hug day. Don't go beyond hugs, or you'll lose those bonuses gained earlier for no reason."

"No seriously, the whole thing is just stupid." She looked to Tenma, "Do you really..."

Her words trailed off as she looked at the terror frozen on Tenma's face. "Tenma?"

"Hug him? I CAN'T HUG HIM!!!"

"Why not? You've gotten this far. Why quit now?" Akira asked putting down the book.

"Because I can't hug him!" Tenma flailed, slamming her head down on the table.

"Really, Tenma, if you loved him you'd do anything to be with him. You have to be able to hug the man you love." Mikoto tilted her head and looked at Tenma.

Tenma pouted and covered her head with her hands. "But I can't! I know I can't. I'll freak out or something. He'll think I'm weird and probably won't ever want to date a girl who tried to hug him and passed out or something."

"You won't know until you try." Akira said firmly, standing up. "And you're going to try."

Mikoto jumped to her feet. "You have a plan, don't you?"

Akira looked at her. "Uh, duh."

"This. Is. Ridiculous." Mikoto fumed. "Why in the hell did I get pulled into this?"

"Didn't you want to help out your best friend?" Akira asked with a shrug.

"Yes! But I don't see why I had to be the one chosen to do this! What about you or Eri?!"

"I came up with the plan and Eri said she refused to participate in this before you did. Now remember, cute and cuddly. You both have to look marketable. Tenma, relax. Karasuma needs to be relaxed in order to want to hug you. The look you have on your face says you're constipated and ready to eat a bear with rabies."

Tenma forced herself to relax and plastered a smile on her face.

"If this works, I'll dye my hair." Eri noted with her arms folded.

Harima walked around the corner with his hands in his pockets thinking. _'How can I possibly get Tenma to hug me willingly?'_ Itoko had made it quite clear that he could always hug Tenma whenever he wanted to, but it was a huge difference from that and Tenma willingly hugging him back. And it was the latter that he was supposed to be going for. Imagine his surprise when he saw Tenma sitting next to Mikoto at a hand-made booth under a sign that said "Hug-A-Friend Fundraiser". He wondered if it still counted as a consensual hug even if he paid for it.

"Hey, Kenji." Akira called out and waved him over. "Would you like to receive a hug from one of your classmates?"

"What's the fundraiser for?"

"School field trip."

"To where?"

"Wherever we plan to go. It makes no sense to plan to go anywhere without even a penny towards the trip." Akira answered, her tone telling him to stop asking questions. "It's a dollar per hug. Get as many as you can afford."

The ten dollar bill he had seemed to suddenly burn a hole in his pocket. "Hm."

"KENJI!"

He whirled around to see a red-faced Hanai storming towards him. "Hm? What do you want?"

"Did you give Yakumo flowers on Monday?!"

_'Great. This is just...great.'_ "And if I did? What's it to you?"

Hanai growled, deep and low like a lion getting ready to attack. "Did you...or did you not?"

"If you really want to know, you're gonna have to beat it out of me. Otherwise, shut your mouth and get the hell outta my face while you still can."

"Boys--" Mikoto tried to interrupt but it was too late. The wild animals attacked each other, fists flying through the air.

"Leave them be." Akira stopped her from getting up. "Here comes our target."

True enough, Karasuma was headed in their direction, eyes passing from store to store, window shopping as he walked along.

Mikoto leaned over and whispered to a shaking Tenma. "Keep your head on. All you have to do is open your arms when I elbow you and receive the hug, okay?"

Tenma nodded but it didn't seem as if she really heard or understood a word Mikoto had said.

"Hi, Karasuma. Would you like to support our fundraiser?" Akira asked, gesturing to Tenma.

Karasuma looked at Akira then at Tenma. "Okay."

Mikoto immediately elbowed Tenma and whispered, "_Breathe._"

Tenma instead held out her arms for the hug. Karasuma paid Akira and bent down across the little table, hugging Tenma. Her arms went around him in return...and didn't let go.

"Um, Tenma?" Mikoto poked Tenma. The girl suddenly went limp in Karasuma's arms, her head falling back.

"She's fainted." Karasuma observed.


	8. Sunday: Kiss Day

**Sunday: Kiss Day**

Students covered the school yard, none of them wearing their school uniform. The sunset was beautiful on the horizon over the ocean.

"If I can't even hug him then I can't kiss him." Tenma shook her head.

"Come on, Tenma." Mikoto whined trying to pull the stubborn girl along behind her. Tenma wouldn't budge.

"I don't want to scare him off."

"He was really concerned yesterday...somewhat. He offered to carry you home on his back."

Tenma shook her head. "No. Please Mikoto don't make me do this." She begged, attempting to use her most appealing chibi voice.

Harima turned a corner and there she was. He'd been avoiding her the entire time, hoping that his luck would not subject him to this. She looked up at him expectant eyes. His looked down at her with dread.

He passed out.

"Maybe he's sick?" Mikoto tried to come with an explanation as to why Harima would look at Tenma as if he'd seen a ghost and pass out.

"Miss Tsukamoto?" Tenma turned around and all color drained from her face.

"Y-yes?"

"I was wondering how you were doing." Karasuma looked down at her, expression unreadable.

Three...two...one...

"TENMA!"

Harima stared up at the ceiling of the nurse's office, a cold compress on his head. "In the end...I couldn't do it. I failed."

The door opened and Karasuma came in carrying Tenma followed by Eri, Akira, and Mikoto.

"What happened?" Harima asked.

"She fainted." Karasuma answered, laying her down on the bed beside him.

"Oh. Is she okay?"

"I think so." The school's nurse, Miss Anegasaki, answered placing a cold compress on Tenma's forehead as well. "The two of you continue to rest. Who knows who will faint next?"

She ushered all of the teenagers out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Harima looked over at Tenma, wondering if it would be okay to sneak a kiss while she was unconscious. He thought about then decided against it. The last thing he needed was for her to wake up with him hovering over her body.


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Itoko rushed into the room. "Kenji! What are you doing?!"

Harima looked at her over his shoulder. "Making s'mores. Want one?" He held up his roasted marshmallow on a stick.

She coughed violently, ran out of the room, and returned with a fire extinguisher. "Are you nuts?! You can burn things inside of the apartment! You'll burn us all to the ground!"

He only shrugged, placing the roasted marshmallow on a graham cracker, then a piece of chocolate followed by another graham cracker. She looked down at the remains of what he'd use to make a fire and sighed. "You burned the book."

"That's all it was ever really good for." He poked the ashes with his stick.

"Kenji, I didn't want to tell you this but...that book wasn't actually a How-To book. It was a book made to make fun of dating. That's why I thought it was so funny."

"I hate you." He kept poking the ashes.

* * *

"ARGH!" Tenma threw the book across the room.

"Sis..." Yakumo tried to calm her down.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY TRIED TO USE THIS STUPID BOOK TO HELP ME!"

Yakumo had read the last chapter aloud to Tenma, resulting in the temper tantrum. "Valentine Day: If you have reached this far, you are one of those 'established romantic couples'. Congratulations! Now you can lure your subject into the den known as your bedroom and go for the goal. You should have enough bonus points to score a touchdown."

Before Yakumo could talk her out of it, Tenma snatched up the book and flung it out the window without looking. Outside, Hanai, on his way to school, was hit on the top of his head with the book. "Ow!"

He kneeled down and picked up the book. "Seven Days To Fall In Love For Dummies?" He thought about Yakumo in his arms, kissing him passionately, then blushed. "Yakumo, my love! For you I shall read this book and woo you!"

He took off at high speed to school to have time to read the first chapter.


End file.
